Balcony kiss seals deal for William and Kate

The newly married Prince William and Kate Middleton kiss on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.Photo by
Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images

LONDON — It was a rapt rather than fanatical crowd that thronged Buckingham Palace in the tens of thousands seeking a kiss to end the fairy-tale day — and they weren't disappointed.

Standing a dozen deep in places, the fans lining the road around the palace and the Queen Victoria Memorial listened to Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding ceremony on outdoor speakers in almost total silence, the only movement hundreds of Union Jacks wafting softly on the still air.

As the ceremony ended and the newlyweds and their families began their procession back from Westminster Abbey, the only sounds at the palace were the humming of police helicopters overhead, orders barked at the red-clad Welsh Guards and the clicking hoofs and jingling harnesses of the gleaming Household Cavalry.

In the distance, a wave of cheers roared down The Mall and across the crowd on the sidewalks around the palace as the newly married William and Kate appeared in the open-top 1902 state landau, grinning and waving.

After the entire wedding procession arrived in the inner palace courtyard, the Royal Standard flag — a mammoth 10-metre by five-meter version reserved for state occasions and royal weddings — unfurled above the palace, signalling that Queen Elizabeth was in residence.

At the same time, tens of thousands of people rolled in from all directions, following the Windsor and Middleton families down The Mall to the front gates of Buckingham Palace in a massive human wave topped by hundreds of Union Jacks. A thick line of police officers controlled the crowd's progress, but the well wishers were restrained rather than raucous. The main gates of the palace remained open, with only four guards on horseback controlling access.

Just before William and Kate were scheduled to appear on the palace balcony to greet the public and watch a Royal Air Force flypast, a rustling curtain on the middle window of the balcony sent the throng into a frenzy of expectation. A few minutes later, a roar went up when the couple stepped through the doors of the balcony, alone for a few moments before their families and wedding party joined them.

Kate exclaimed "Wow!" to her new husband when she saw the crowd before them, and he leaned toward her, pointing to the crowd and smiling as they waved.

It was only a few seconds before the crowd began chanting, "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" as they had for William's parents 30 years before, when the tradition of the public royal wedding kiss was born.

The fiercely private William and Kate indulged the crowd with a blink-and-you'll-miss-it peck, but Steve Wilkes, who'd come from Nottingham for the day, said it was enough for him.

"It was just a big buzz, it gets you," he said, touching his hand to his throat. "They've given us something."

Looking flushed and giddy at the public outpouring, William and Kate gave into the chants with another, slightly more lingering kiss that left them both giggling, before watching two Royal Air Force flypasts thunder over the palace.

As their families and the wedding party disappeared back into the palace, William put his arm around his new wife and they smiled and waved to the crowd a few more times. Then he reached for her hand and they were gone.

"It was too exciting not to be here," said Londoner Sarah Potterton. "You had to be here for this. I thought, 'Am I going to be at home and watch this on TV with some friends? No, I'm going to be there!"

The crowd lingered at the front gates of the palace for some time, despite loudspeaker announcements insisting there would be no more balcony appearances.

Two hours later, the few thousand who remained along the sidewalks were rewarded when the couple left their afternoon reception to spend a few hours alone before joining their families and friends for an evening party.

The newlyweds roared out the palace gates in a blue Aston Martin convertible, William at the wheel and Kate still wearing her veil, a cluster of red and silver balloons bearing their initials bouncing off the bumper. The license plate: JU5T WED.

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